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Downstream oil theft poses a significant threat to local and regional prosperity, as well as to global stability and security. In 2016, the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center published the first comprehensive study on downstream oil theft, launching a body of work on this important topic. Led by Global Energy Center Senior Fellow Ian Ralby, this initiative seeks to identify and assess the various ways oil theft occurs and provide recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to combat oil theft moving forward.

New report

Downstream oil theft has become a global problem. Since most of the world’s energy systems still rely on oil, fuel smugglers are nearly always able to find markets for their goods. Moreover, as oil is not inherently illegal, it is generally an easy product to move, buy, and sell. Profits from oil theft are frequently used to fund terrorism and other illegal activities.

This post is the first in a series of three that will focus on 1) defining, 2) mapping, and 3) addressing the invisible supply chain. In 2014, the Wall Street Journal published a story detailing how the Saltpond Oil Field off the coast of Ghana was exporting as much as five times the crude oil […]

This post is the second in a series of three that will focus on 1) defining, 2) mapping, and 3) addressing the invisible supply chain. You can read the first post here. In the autumn of 2017, Italian authorities busted a lucrative smuggling ring that was bringing hundreds of millions of liters of stolen Libyan […]

This post is the third in a series of three that focuses on 1) defining, 2) mapping, and 3) addressing the invisible supply chain. You can read the first and second posts here. Criminals have the advantage of being agile. They are unencumbered by the constraints that impede the governments and institutions arrayed against them. A criminal […]

Featured in-depth research & reports

The Downstream Oil Theft initiative produces in-depth research and reports to identify and assess the various ways oil theft occurs and provide recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to combat oil theft moving forward.

Oil and fuel theft is a significant global phenomenon, accounting for tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars annually. It typically takes place in the maritime domain, as oil tankers account for a fourth of global trade and law enforcement control over maritime spaces is often lacking.

On January 13, 2017, the Atlantic Council launched a major study on downstream oil theft at its inaugural Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Downstream Oil Theft: Implications and Next Steps draws on the launch event to examine the implications of the study’s findings and to suggest tangible next steps in both further investigating this global scourge and beginning to confront it effectively.

Hydrocarbons crime, in all its forms, has become a significant threat not only to local and regional prosperity but also to global stability and security. Combating this pervasive criminal activity is made only more difficult by the reality that many of those in a position to curb hydrocarbons crime are the ones benefiting from it.

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